Why Is My Phone Sending Double Texts

Why Phones Send Texts Twice

Low coverage and bad reception. If your phone loses signal when you try to send a text, your phone or network may try to re-send the text message when you have a stronger signal. Sometimes the phone doesn't realize the text actually went through, so the phone will send a second copy as a result.

Carrier problems and network outages. If your mobile carrier has an outage or is doing upgrades, you might experience duplicate texts until the issue is resolved.

Software bugs. This isn't as common if you're using your phone's built-in texting app like iMessage or Messages for Android, but third-party messaging apps sometimes glitch and send out the same text more than once.

Poor phone performance. If your phone is sluggish when you try to send a text, it might accidentally send the same text two times, thinking that the first didn't go through.

Troubleshooting Double Texts

Position yourself for better phone reception. Because it's usually low signal or interference that causes duplicate texts, try signal-improving techniques, like moving to a higher elevation (such as up a flight of stairs), near a window, and/or away from other electronics.

Restart your phone. If your signal is strong and your carrier isn't experiencing any problems, there are some simple troubleshooting steps you can do, beginning with restarting your phone. If you're using an Android, press the Power button (if you have one) or press and hold Volume Down and the Side key, then press Restart. If you have an iPhone, press and hold either volume button and the side button at the same time, and then drag the slider to turn off the phone. Then, press and hold the side button until you see the Apple logo to turn it back on.

Remove and reinsert the SIM card. You want to make sure the card is inserted correctly. Here's what to do once you know how the SIM should be positioned (the steps are the same for Androids and iPhones, and there might be a visual display on the tray or you can find your phone's manual): Power off your phone, use a pin or paperclip to open the SIM card tray, wipe the SIM card with a microfiber cloth, reinsert the SIM according to the visual. When you're finished, boot the phone up and see if the issue still persists. If it does, continue to the next step.

Charge your phone. If your phone is low on battery, it might impact the speed of your phone, as well as your phone's ability to actively track down the best mobile network to use.

Clear Messages app cache and data (Androids only). Doing so will help clear out any software bugs that may be causing your phone to send texts twice. Go to Settings > Apps > Messages > Storage and tap Clear Data and Clear Cache. If the issue still occurs after you've cleared the app cache and data, try the next step.

Disable Advanced/Enhanced Messaging (Android only). This also helps clear a glitch or bug in your software. To do this, go to Messages > Menu > Message Settings > Enhanced Messages and tap to switch it off.

Reset network settings. Doing this usually irons out any bugs in GSM but can also help CDMA lines. To do this on Android or iPhone, go to Settings > General/General Management > Reset and tap Reset Network Settings. Keep in mind that this will reset all of your internet settings, including saved Wi-Fi passwords.

Try an alternative messaging app (Androids only). If none of the steps above fixes your problem, you can try using other text messaging services, like FB Messenger, Pulse SMS, Textra, or Google Messages.